Life Member Profile – Geoff Walker
When the recruitment from the Kiama area seemed insufficient in the club’s first year, the net was spread wider to include Nowra and its surrounds, and Geoff Walker and his wife Barbara were caught in it. Joining up in early 1959, Geoff was quickly voted onto the committee. He had already proved his worth to the club by providing advice to the original committee on the plans for the lodge and on the important question of who should construct it. A builder by trade, his skills were to be of great value for many years beginning with his first stay in the lodge in 1959 when he spent much of his weekend attending to matters like door and window latches which didn’t quite ‘catch’. When in the same year the committee canvassed the idea of adding to the lodge’s capacity by building a bunkroom next to it, Geoff teamed up with Fred Wynn and the pair offered to build it at a materials-only cost to the club. In 1960 Geoff became a vice-president and two year later he was an obvious choice as president. He was elected to the top post again in 1965, and then served once more as a vice-president and took the running in the planning process which led to the re-building of the lodge in 1968-69. He then took a break from the committee before returning in 1977 and providing advice on lodge designs and costings as the club moved to re-develop its facility. Geoff also advised on many matters relating to the re-building of the lodge in 1983-84 and participated in important meetings with Kosciusko Thredbo personnel as the building’s plans were developed. His practical skills were much appreciated at many working bees at Thredbo over a long period of time. Two of his sons, Rob and Steven, served later on the committee and Rob followed his father into the construction industry and became a vital contributor to building and working bee projects as was his brother Graeme. Geoff himself was made a life member in the late 1980s. He died in 2011.